Category: Politics

Former
President John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor, has expressed confidence and trust
in the Electoral Commission (EC) to live up to expectation.

“Within
your short stay in office, I am impressed with your work. I feel
comfortable, especially with the approach of reaching out to engage with
stakeholders. I have been following the EC from afar and I know the
affairs of the commission is being steered evenly,” he said.

He
counselled the EC not to succumb to pressure from political parties but
should remain firm, transparent, and professional, as well as take
decisive decisions that would ensure peace in all its electoral
activities

Former
President Kufuor said this when Mrs Jean Mensa, the Chairperson of the
EC led a team of its Commissioners to pay a courtesy call on him in
Accra.

Among
the team were her two deputies – Mr Samuel Tettey, the Commissioner
in-charge of Operations and Dr Bossman Eric Asare, the Commissioner
in-charge of Corporate Services, as well as Mrs Adwoa Asuama Abrefa, a
CommissionerThe
visit formed part of EC’s efforts to explain its operations and bring
the Commission closer to stakeholders as well as afford the Commission
an opportunity to know at first-hand, the concerns and issues regarding
its operations.

The EC’s delegation was received by the Former President, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, the former Chief of Staff and other staff members.

He
lauded the EC’s transformation agenda and urged the Commission to equip
its staff with the requisite training to ensure smooth electoral
processes because the EC was a pivot around which political system
revolved.

“Wherever
there is power there is tension because everyone wants to be on top to
manage the power it but it is the duty of the referee to ensure fairness
and impartiality,” he said.

“Your
agents at the local level must reflect your integrity with which you
are working. They must do their work without compromising.

“Do
not expect the political parties to love you. The constitution enjoins
you to be a good referee and ensure that the right things are done in
the interest of the state. The stability of the nation will depend on
your work.

“I
believe 2020 will be crucial to Ghana and many countries look up to
Ghana so we need to prepare very well for events before during and
after. Use the best practices to conduct the elections and be firm”.

The
former President encouraged the EC to continue the Inter-Party Advisory
Committee meetings and listen to constructive concerns to enhance its
work.

Mr
Mpiani said the EC over the years had not opened up to its stakeholders
hence political parties in opposition constantly had issues with the
Commission.

“We
politicians are part of the problem of the EC. I have had the
opportunity to engage with the EC and I think politicians make the work
of the EC very difficult,” he said.

To
enhance the work of the EC, he suggested that, the EC engaged the right
and competent people at the local level to administer the electoral
processes.

He advised the EC to open up to all politicians and the public about its operations to win their trust to reduce tensions.

Mrs
Mensa said the Commission recognised the immense contribution of former
President Kufuor to the political dispensation of Ghana, hence the
decision to visit to seek wise counsel and partnership.

Mrs
Mensa reiterated that the Commission was poised to run an open door
policy and would give a level playing field to all political parties to
ensure credible, transparent, free and fair elections.

She
briefed them about the commencement of processes to build a strong
administrative governance structure to correct lapses at the EC.

“I am not too surprised because I know of your integrity, professionalism and exemplary work that contributed to the growth of the Institute of Economics Affairs when you led that body”.

Lawyers for Bawku Central MP Mahama Ayariga are urging an Accra High Court to put his trial on hold.

Member of his legal team, Edudzi Tamakloe, on Wednesday argued before
an Accra High Court that the case cannot proceed due to a pending
appeal they have filed.

The former Sports minister’s counsel is challenging an earlier ruling of the court. The Mp who has been charged with using his public office for private gain by the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, had earlier urged the court to dismiss the case against him as he questioned the eligibility of Mr Amidu.

This was dismissed by the court presided over Justice Asare Botwe as
it ruled that despite a pending suit questioning Mr Amidu’s eligibility
at the Supreme Court, he can still file charges.

However, the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s represented by Michael Baafi opposed the application.

He argued that no harm will be occasioned Mr Ayariga if the trial progresses.

According to him, the Court of Appeal (hearing the appeal) and the
Supreme Court (hearing the Amidu eligibility case) can make orders
truncating the trial if it finds merit in the case.

Justice Afia Asare Botwe adjourned the case to July 31st to deliver her ruling.

The court which is also hearing another case involving the MP
relating to importation of cars granted a request by the Special
Prosecutor to replace the charge sheet filed earlier.

But Mr Tamakloe urged the court to halt proceedings as they are seeking to overturn the ruling at the Court of Appeal.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) China branch to hold their annual conference under the Chairmanship of Mr. Owusu Achiaw (China Chairman. other dignitaries include national branch Chairman Mr Freddy Blay, National Organizer Sammy Awuku, Mr John Boadu (General secretary ) and many others. the event will take place at grand skylight hotel Boaen Shenzhen from 26th to 28th july 2019 8:00am to 5:00pm each day.

According to the communication affair for N.P.P china branch Mr Mark Amponsah wishes to invite all N.P.P members around China to come and support them for successful conference.

The
former South African President, Nelson Mandela said: “Education is the
most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.

On
1st September 2017, the NPP government led by President Nana Addo
Danquah Akufo-Addo rolled out a policy that saw the 2017/2018 academic
year Senior High School entrants admitted into the various schools they
were posted to without paying any fees. This policy is termed “Free
Senior High School” program and it aims at eliminating the element of
cost which often becomes a barrier to higher education in Ghana.

In the 2017/18 academic year, over 200,000 students benefited from this program. This commendable policy was well-received by the citizens, as it brought a sigh of relief to many parents, especially to the children from financially-challenged homes. This policy is also commendable in terms of helping Ghana achieve the Sustainable Development Goal(SDG) 4 which is to ensure that “all boys and girls complete free primary and secondary schooling by 2030” and also to eliminate educational inequality in terms of gender and wealth disparities.

The
increasing number of students that were admitted into the free SHS
program in the 2018/19 academic year necessitated the introduction of
the double track system in order to accommodate more students into the
program. The double track system was also due to infrastructural
challenges faced by the various senior high schools in Ghana, which the
government intend to resolve over time.

With
about 517,332 candidates who wrote the Basic Education Certificate
Examinations this year, the issue of infrastructural challenges is
likely to worsen and could deepen the multiple-track system introduced
into the senior high schools in the 2018/19 academic year.

One
reliable means by which the government can ease the pressure on the
infrastructural facilities in the various senior high schools in Ghana
is to include private senior high schools in the free S.H.S program.
Even though the effort has been made by the government to provide extra
classrooms blocks for some senior high schools ahead of the 2019/20
academic year, the inclusion of the private senior high schools in the
free S.H.S program will be highly commendable and will provide more room
for curbing the temporal double track system in no time.

There
are over 500 private senior high schools in Ghana, who are providing
various forms of educational programs ranging from business, general and
agricultural science, visual and general arts to home economics. Most
of these schools are well equipped in terms of infrastructural
facilities such as adequate classroom blocks, boarding houses to
accommodate students as well as excellent teaching and learning
materials. These schools also have qualified teachers who offer
excellent tuition to students. This often translates to excellent
performance in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination
(WASSCE).

There
are several benefits the nation stands to gain when private schools are
included in the senior high school program. Notable among them are:

Less pressure on government in dealing with the infrastructural challenges facing public senior high schools

The
inclusion of private senior high schools in the free senior high school
programme will relieve the government of the expected urgency in the
provision of extra infrastructural facilities in the public senior high
schools in the short term. This is because some private senior high
schools are well equipped in terms of infrastructure to accommodate
students in the boarding houses and also have quality teachers just the
public senior high schools, and therefore have the capacity of providing
quality education and contribute immensely towards human capital
development in Ghana and the world as a whole. This can help Ghana
achieve greater economic growth, just as empirical work has proven that
quality education played an active role in the economic growth and
development in the Asian countries (Asian tigers) such as Hong Kong,
Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and others.

Furthermore,
it will help the government in ensuring fiscal discipline, have ample
time to make effective decisions to improve the educational sector and
also enable the government to channel funds to other sectors of the
economy in order to achieve significant growth in all sectors of the
economy. It will also help in eradicating the multi-track system, which
the government introduced as a short term measure of dealing with
infrastructural challenges among the public senior high schools in
Ghana.

Prevention of collapse of private senior high school and enhanced growth and employment

According
to Ghana Statistical Service, the number of people living in extreme
poverty in Ghana increased to 2.4 million as at 2017, with Gini
coefficient of 43.0% (GLSS 7) and poverty rate standing at 23.4%. This
can partly be attributed to high unemployment rate and lack of sustained
source of livelihood. Hence, any policy that can provide employment
opportunity is highly recommendable.

The
inclusion of private schools in the free S.H.S program is, therefore,
one of the means of eradication of unemployment in Ghana, since it will
liberate the private schools from fear of collapsing due low intake of
students, thereby sustaining employment and huge investment in the
private schools in Ghana.

Furthermore,
the inclusion of private schools in the free S.H.S program will induce
employment of extra teachers by the private school to meet the expected
increasing demanding of teachers. This will there result in the
employment of teachers beyond the 59,000 the Education Ministry has
already employed since 2017.

It
will also ensure that private schools do not collapse, as many private
schools are on the verge of collapsing due to the decreasing number of
student intake.

This
will prevent the current private S.H.S employees which include teachers
and other staff who are making an immense contribution to the growth of
the economy through education, from losing their jobs and source of
livelihood, thereby contributing to the reduction in the unemployment
rate and ensuring significant growth of the economy of Ghana.

Benjamin Boakye, Executive Director of African Centre for Energy Policy
(ACEP) has assigned reasons for the mounting debt stock in the energy
sector despite the institutionalisation of several taxes and levies to
address the issue.

Ghana’s energy sector has a debt of $2.2 billion accumulated over a
period of more than two decades. This is generally referred to as the
legacy debt.
This has resulted in government’s inability to occasionally purchase
fuel for the production of power and pay independent power producers
leading to intermittent power outages.

The operations of State Owned Enterprises within the energy sector like
ECG, VRA, GRIDCo have been constraint largely due to the massive debt
overhang.

In 2015, Government of Ghana, during the administration of John Mahama
passed the Energy Sector Levy Act (ACT 899) to bring under one umbrella,
taxes and levies collected for the settlement of Ghana’s energy sector
debt.

The ESLA was introduced to among others bring together energy sector
levies for their efficient utilisation; defray the country’s energy
sector legacy debts and other liabilities within the energy sector;
serve as source of funds to facilitate sustainable long term investments
in the energy sector.

Continuous debt accumulation

Speaking on PM Express Thursday, Ben Boakye noted that despite efforts
at addressing the problem, the energy sector seems to be piling up more
debt in recent times at a faster rate largely due to power agreements
signed in the last 5 years.

This, in his opinion, has rendered the levies gathered under the ESLA
inadequate to deal with the debt menace that has adversely affected the
institutions for years.

“The money doesn’t appear to be adequate. You have an ESLA that is
supposed to clear outstanding debt and we have not been able to stop
accumulating debt. So whiles you want to address an existing debt
portfolio, you are still accumulating debt” ACEP’s Executive Director
disclosed.

The country’s peak demand in 2018, according to the Energy Commission,
is 2,523.49 MW meaning Ghana has a little below 1000 MW in excess which
is produced but not consumed.

The ACEP Executive Director points to this phenomenon as a significant
contributing factor to Ghana’s inability to settle the legacy debts as
it initially planned.

He disclosed that Ghana is compelled to pay millions of dollars monthly
for power generated despite the fact that it is not being used. The
situation, he adds, will compound should more of the IPPs with whom
agreements have been signed come on stream.

Benjamin Boakye asserted “currently the excess capacity that we have to
pay for is about $25 million every month. So by the end of the year when
you have Amandi coming on, you have Cenpower coming full stream, that
shoots us to about $42 million a month for excess capacity. The debt
accumulation is not stopping, you always have to get extra money to
address some of these challenges. We need to have a real look at these
situation and say how do we deal with it? How do we stop the debt
accumulation so that we can the opportunity to address the existing
debt? Else, the ESLA alone will not be enough”

According to the “Annual Report on the Management of the Energy Sector
Levies and Accounts For The Year 2018” submitted to Parliament by Ken
Ofori-Atta, Finance Minister, GHC2.5 million out of the GHC3.1 million
gathered from the ESLA was utilised by Government.

Misuse of funds

Contributing to the discussion of Ghana’s energy sector debt, the
Damongo MP and Ranking Member on Mines and Energy Committee of
Parliament, Adams Mutawakilu, accused the Akufo-Addo government of
misappropriating funds accrued by the ESLA.

This, he insists, has affected the performance of institutions who would
have had some fiscal room to manage their operations and go for
facilities on their own balance sheet.

“If a government in 2017 ESLA could tell us that they use GHC600 million
to pay for pension arrears, What is more of misuse than that? That ESLA
is purposely for energy sector and therefore you can’t just say you
have liability and then you dip your hand (into it). It is captured in
the report.”

“ECG in 2016 made a profit of GHC725 miilion under President Mahama,
GRIDCo GHC69. So the ESLA if utilised in the manner it is expected, we
expect these agencies to perform better. The more they are able to
perform the more they are able to shoulder any facility they go in for.
As at 2017, we got worst performance. ECG recorded a loss of GHC2
billion because it is not performing; GRIDCO, GHC118 million loss. So
you realise that even with the ESLA the performance has gone down
terribly” the lawmaker stressed.

In the view of the Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee of
Parliament, Mutawakilu Adam, the energy sector debt will linger on for
long time to come because of the government’s approach to dealing with
it.

“This energy sector debt will hang on us for a very long time.”

“The rate of accumulation of debt is astronomical. If we can take from
1992 to 2015 to accumulate $2.4 billion debt and from January 2017 to
today the energy debt accumulated is about GHC2 billion then there is
cause for worry.”

“There was the need to put an end to it and that is why ESLA came in,
bringing all the taxes under one envelop. And as at the end of 2015 we
had $2.4 billion but by the end of 2016 it had reduced to $2.2 billion
because $250 million of the $2.2 billion had been paid.”

Solution

To resolve the issue, however, Executive Director of ACEP, Benjamin
Boakye has advocated strongly for the cancellation of some agreements
signed between the government and power producing companies for the
generation of power.

He emphasised that government must confront the issue of the energy
sector debt head-on to reduce the risk of intermittent power outages.

“We have to sit down and address this energy issue because its going to
be recurrent. We will be talking about it, blaming others but the
situation needs solutions now. I think we have to bit the bullet, some
of the contractors have to go. Who can go? Bear the consequences because
if you are going to pay $200 million today it is better than waiting to
pay GHC 500, GHC1bn in 2-3 years” he cautioned

A four-warehouse project, rehabilitated at the cost of a little over
GH?3 million at Duase in the Manhyia North district of the Ashanti
Region and just handed over to the state, has been classified as having
several defects less than five months after completion.

The project, which was awarded to Messrs Seliwas Company Limited, in
2017, to be completed in five months, was originally estimated at a
little over GH?1 million but was revised to a little over GH?3 million,
being GH?2 million difference.

Out of this total sum spent on the project, GH?572,243 was a
contribution disbursed from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA).

The expected date for the completion of the project was also revised
from April 4, 2018, to May 4, 2018, however, according to officials at
the facility the project was handed over in February 2019.

This notwithstanding, parts of the newly rehabilitated facility, handed
over to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) for use, has already
started showing signs of wear and tear.

Three of the four structures – including an office used by the Ghana
Commodity Exchange for monitoring – leak heavily when it rains, while
other parts have visible signs of cracks.

During the visit to the facility by members of the Public Interest and
Accountability Committee (PIAC), it emerged that a number of reports had
already been filed on the development. One of such memos reporting the
issue stated that “immediate action needed to be taken before it becomes
disastrous.”

See Also: African billionaire fortunes rise on Forbes 2018 list
However, authorities in charge of the facility appeared to have ignored
this plea and persistent calls for attention to be given to the defects
while the newly-rehabilitated facility deteriorate.

The current rate of the facility’s deterioration is feared could affect
the work of the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) and National Food Buffer
Stock Company (NAFCO), which currently occupy parts of the facility.

NAFCO stocks variety of food items – including soya beans, rice, and
maize – to guarantee an assured income to farmers by providing a minimum
guaranteed price and ready market. Part of its mandate is also to
mop-up excess produce from all farmers in order to reduce post-harvest
losses resulting from spoilage due to poor storage, thereby protecting
farm incomes.

Currently, NAFCO is in charge of food supplies to senior high schools as
part of the government’s Free Senior High School programme, and
therefore any delay in addressing the leakages at the facility could
affect the quality of grains it stocks for supply.

The Corporate Affairs Manager of NAFCO, Mr. Emmanuel Arthur, explained
in a telephone interview that NAFCO is just an end-user of the facility
but with the current situation would take steps to secure its stock in
order that it is not contaminated in any way.

However, he disclosed that effort was going to be made to engage the consultants and contractor of the rehabilitation works.

Meanwhile, attempts to get some clarifications from the contractor,
Messrs Seliwas Company Limited, were unsuccessful. Several calls placed
to clarify some of the issues that emerged at the visit of the Committee
mandated to monitor and evaluate the management and use of Ghana’s
petroleum revenues by institutions of the state, were not answered.

Also, the Ashanti Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and
Agriculture, Rev. John Manu, in a telephone interview also said he was
not aware of the rehabilitation works. However, he indicated that it
could have been done prior to his transfer to the Region.

The visit by PIAC formed part of its 2019 districts engagement and
inspection of projects supported with oil revenue in the Ashanti Region.

The members of PIAC, led by the Vice-Chairman of PIAC, Dr. Thomas
Stevens, to inspect the facility were not impressed with the state of
the facility considering the amount of money that was spent on the
rehabilitation.

Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries would soon heave a sigh
of relief from the importation of petroleum products, with the imminent
completion of the 650,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Dangote Refinery at
Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos.

Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects & Portfolio
Development, Devakumar Edwin, made this statement on Wednesday, July 10,
2019, during the opening of the Ghana International Petroleum
Conference (GhIPCON), which took place in Accra, Ghana.

This year’s conference held under the theme: ‘Regional Collaboration: A
Catalyst for Transformation,” organised under the auspices of the
Ministry of Energy and the National Petroleum Authority, was attended by
stakeholders in the petroleum sector in the West Africa region.

Represented by the Technical Adviser to the President of Dangote Group
on Refinery and Petrochemicals, Ign. Babajide Soyode, Mr. Edwin
expressed the belief that the completion of Dangote Refinery and other
modular refineries projects across West Africa, would lead to the
integration of the downstream industries and stabilise the prices of
petroleum products across the African sub-region.

He stressed the need for other investors in West Africa to emulate the
investment drive of Aliko Dangote in the downstream petroleum sector and
make the sub-region exporter of refined products.

He also urged investors in sub-Saharan Africa to take the bull by the horn by investing in the downstream sector.

According to him, “If Dangote can do it, any investor can do it.
Dangote has not waited for government to regulate the downstream sector
before starting the construction of the refinery.”

“We don’t need foreign investors to turn around our downstream sector.
African investors should be able to emulate Dangote and revive the
African downstream petroleum industry,” he added.

He assured that the refinery is designed to process multiple grades of
domestic and foreign crude, which can be converted into high-quality
gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation fuels that meet Euro V
emissions specifications.

The facility, according to him, would be integrated with a petrochemical unit that will produce polypropylene and fertilisers.

Mr. Edwin said Nigeria would soon become the largest exporter of
fertiliser in Africa as the Dangote Fertiliser Company is set to
commence full production.

According to him, pre-commissioning activities have started while
construction work is still on-going at the Dangote Refinery site.

Speaking also at the event, the Vice President of the Republic of
Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, assured stakeholders in the petroleum
downstream industry that government would create an enabling environment
for downstream business to thrive competitively, efficiently and with
the highest of safety standards.

“Government, through the Ministry of Energy is in the process of
ensuring institutional and regulatory re-alignment of the midstream gas
subsector to bring clarity and a degree of certainty to players within
that subsector,” he said.

The GhIPCON is designed to actively bring to the fore the operating
industry’s perspective and guidance on issues of governmental and
regulatory policy, as well as best practices for the advancement of the
industry across West Africa.

The conference witnessed a convergence of about 250 regulators and
downstream industry stakeholders from across the West African sub-region
and beyond.

The event stimulated regional discussions that set the tone for a West
African policy framework on the outlook of the petroleum downstream
industry, regulate petroleum downstream infrastructure projects,
efficiency and financing.

Participants discussed whether or not West Africa was ready for IMO
2020 and fuel specification trends, making West African refineries work,
tackling illicit activities, fuel fraud and supply chain security in
the West African sub-region, as well as consumerising West Africa’s
natural gas.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah
Mensah, aka NAM1, returned to Ghana on Thursday with a bushy hair and
an unkempt moustache.

The man said to have defrauded one Francis Agodzie and 16,000 others of
more than GH¢1.68 billion was spotted by Graphic Online’s Mary Mensah on
the crime beat wearing an ash sweatsuit with a hood, with which he
covered his face to avoid being recognised.

His hands were handcuffed behind him when he arrived at the Kotoka
International Airport via Emirates Airline flight EK787 at 10.58 a.m. on
Thursday.

He was quickly whisked away by security personnel from Interpol Ghana and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).

He was accompanied on the flight by Interpol officials from Dubai, who
handed him over to Interpol Ghana officials as soon as he disembarked
from the plane.

Flanked by two policemen, with other security men following closely
behind, he limped slowly and managed to make it to the offices of the
Financial Forensic Unit (FFU) on the first floor of the
CID?Headquarters.

As soon as he made it to the offices of the FFU, the frail NAM 1 pulled
off the hood to reveal his bushy hair and unkept moustache, as he
awaited the arrival of his two lawyers, Messrs Kwame Akufo and Kofi
Supremo.

He was arraigned at the Accra Circuit Court on Friday morning and was
into police custody to reappear before the court on July 26, 2019.

The court, presided over by Jane Helen Akweley Quaye, remanded NAM 1
after the police prosecutors prayed for his remand to aid
investigations.

It is extremely interesting to hear the former president and the 2020
flagbearer of NDC, Mr John Dramani Mahama, evocatively implying that
Ghanaians are not happy with Akufo-Addo’s leadership style, which has
allegedly led to high socio-economic standards of living.

If we draw an adverse inference on the Mahama’s seemingly isolated
assertion, we can then conclude that the 56% of electorates were not
happy with former President Mahama, and hence showing him the exit in
the 2016 general elections.

Dearest reader, if you would recall, prior to the 2008 and 2012 general
elections, Ex-President Mahama and NDC gave a slew of Manifesto
promises to Ghanaians. But as to whether they honoured those promises,
is a million dollar question.

During the 2008 and 2012 electioneering campaigns, Mahama and NDC gave a
cornucopia of Manifesto promises, inter alia, one-time NHIS premium,
free SHS, ‘making dumsor a thing of the past, putting money in Ghanaians
pocket, creating more jobs for the jobless, stabilising the economy,
protecting Ghanaians from the menaces of galamsey and Fulani herdsmen,
bringing an end to dubious judgement debt payments, fighting the rampant
bribery and corruption, amongst others.

Regrettably, after giving all those richly interesting, albeit
unrealistic promises with a view to deceiving Ghanaians for their
mandate, the NDC government, led by former President Mahama, as
expected, wilfully failed to honour the promises, and, consequently, a
total of 55.6% (44.4% for Mahama) of the electorates rightly voted them
out of power in 2016.

Mind you, there have been numerous NDC’s broken Manifesto promises, but
the one that has ineffaceably stencilled on discerning Ghanaians mental
sheets, is the one-time NHIS premium.

The NDC’s Manifesto promise of one-time NHIS premium, so to speak, was destitute of honesty and integrity.

The overarching question then is: what will make the unhappy 56% of
electorates change their mind and repose their absolute trusts in Mahama
in 2020, given the encouraging signs of auspicious economic growth
under the Akufo-Addo’s leadership?

Gone are the days when society anecdotally attributed leadership to a
trait from birth. And more so leadership was only ascribed to tall,
handsome and well-connected individuals.

Obviously, it was wholly illogical. The fact of the matter is that
leadership skills can be acquired through remedial tutorials or routine
training.

What is the difference between a leader and leadership?

In theory, a leader is a person who is appointed, elected or informally
chosen to direct and co-ordinate the work of others in a group (Fiedler,
1995).

The preceding extant definition underscores the fact that the formally
appointed leader cannot always be a real leader, but it also confines
the notion of leader to a group context.

If we take the word “group” literally, this definition precludes
leaders of nations, large corporations and so on, except in so far as
they lead a small group of senior colleagues.

On the other hand, leadership can be considered to be the personal
qualities, behaviours, styles and decisions adopted by the leader. In
other words, it concerns how the leader carries out his/her role. Hence
while the role of leader can be described in a job description,
leadership is not so easily pinned down.

The crucial question then is: with so many people purporting to be
leaders these days, how do we distinguish between a true leader and a
demagogue?

To be able to do justice to the preceding question, we must pause,
reflect summarily and ask: what is it that a leader is trying to
achieve?

In fact, a true leader wants nothing more than to make people
independent, as leaders in their own rights. Instead of trying to
deceive us with his or her superlative oratory, a true leader reflects
our own light back to us.

A true leadership, in practice, must give people a long-term vision that
absorbs their lives with meaning; it must point them in a new direction
and show how their every action is an indispensable part of a positive
change.

More importantly, a true leader always comes up with pragmatic ideas
with the view to transforming the lives of his/her subordinates.

We tend to believe that a leader is a person who is well-connected, who
is powerful or charismatic or wealthy. We normally judge our leaders by
what they have. But a true leader should be judged by his/her
extraordinary qualities, not — ego, impertinent boldness, and
self-interest.

A true leader, in theory, sees his/her work as altruistic service
toward accomplishing a goal. That is by putting the acquired skills,
experience, knowledge and empathetic qualities at the disposal of the
needs of his/her subordinates. As the sages say, “Leadership is not just
power and dominance; it is service to mankind.”

Candidly, after observing Nana Akufo-Addo over a long period of time, I
do not need the likes of Ex-President Mahama to tell yours truly that
Akufo-Addo has the attributes of a visionary leader.

Some experts, however, explain that idealised influence depicts
visionary leaders as most respectful, reliable and meritorious. And more
so idealised influence explains leaders unparalleled ability in setting
vision and implementing it to impact on their subordinates (Bass et
al., 2003).

On the other hand, inspirational motivation explains how visionary
leaders consistently raise team spirit and encourage their subordinates
to be creative (Bass et al., 2003).

If you may recall, during the 2016 electioneering campaign, the
then-presidential candidate of NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, insisted
passionately: “I am promising you that within 18 months of a new
government of the NPP, under my leadership, the face of our country,
Ghana, is going to change”.

As a matter of fact, the preceding statement underscores Nana Addo’s positivism, commitment and enthusiasm.

If you would recollect, prior to the 2008, 2012 and 2016 general
elections, the then presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, made the
Free ‘SHS’ his principal campaign message. As it was expected, the
opposition NDC communicators scoffed and labelled him an inveterate
liar.

Astonishingly, however, some unsuspecting Ghanaians, including my
maternal uncle, Oliver bought into the NDC’s manipulating gimmicks and
rejected the handsome offer of the Free SHS on two previous elections
(2008 and 2012 respectively).

But lo and behold, discerning Ghanaians saw the light and gave the Free
SHS provider, Akufo-Addo the mandate on 7th December 2016.

And, true to his word, President Akufo-Addo has honoured his promise of
the free SHS to the delight of the vast majority of Ghanaians.
Apparently, it commenced in2017/2018 academic year.

It is, however, worth stressing that the implementation of the Free SHS
is the judicious way of distributing the national resources. It really
epitomises a true leadership.

Interestingly, Akufo-Addo insisted during the 2016 electioneering
campaign: “We are going to get out of stagnation and backwardness, and
move our country onto the path of progress and prosperity. We can do it.
We, the Ghanaian people, have the capacity to change the circumstances
of our lives”.

More importantly, the Akuffo-Addo’s government is tackling the erstwhile Mahama’s government economic mess head-on.

Ghana’s economic growth, which had slowed from 4.0% in 2014 to 3.7% in
2015, was predicted to recover to 8.7% in 2017, following consolidation
of macroeconomic stability and implementation of measures to resolve the
crippling power crisis (ADB).

Despite the extent of the economic mess left by the Mahama’s government,
the Akufo-Addo’s government is prudently taking steps to stabilising
the economy.

Take, for example, during the presentation of the NPP government’s first
mid-year budget review at the end of July2017, the Finance Minister,
Ofori-Atta, forecasted favourable economic outlook against the backdrop
of an improving macroeconomic performance and falling inflation.

“There were some positive takeaways; the government comfortably met the
H1 budget deficit target of 3.5%, and now expects the budget shortfall
to be smaller than expected for 2017 as a whole.”

It is also worth emphasising that agricultural growth was around 7.4 per
cent in 2012, but the erstwhile NDC government nauseatingly reversed it
to around 2.5 per cent as of October 2016 (GSS).

But as I write, the Ministry of Agriculture, under the able leadership
of Mr Akoto-Owusu, has rolled out flagship programmes such as planting
for food and jobs’, Planting for Export and Rural Development, Rearing
for Food and Jobs, which are expected to boosts the agricultural growth.

It is also worthy of mention that the Mahama’s government could not hold
on to the late mills “unprecedented” single digit inflation, as he
somehow managed to move the inflation to double digits (15.8% as of
October 2016).

However, as I write, the Akuffo-Addo’s government has dramatically reversed the inflation rate to a single digit (GSS).

More importantly, the Akufo-Addo’s government has efficiently raised the
economic growth within a short space of time. Ghana’s economy grew
provisionally by 8.5 percent in 2017 compared to 3.7 percent in 2016
(Ghana Statistical Service, 2018).

Currently, Ghana’s economic growth stands at around 8.6% from 3.4% in December 2016.

Interestingly, in the first two years of the Akufo-Addo’s
administration, the Industry sector recorded the highest growth rate of
16.7 percent, followed by Agriculture 8.4 percent and the Services 4.3
percent.

Services share of GDP decreased from 56.8 percent in 2016 to 56.2
percent in 2017. The sector’s growth rate also decreased from 5.7
percent in 2016 to 4.3 percent in 2017.

However, two of the subsectors in the services sector recorded
double-digit growth rates, including Information and Communication 13.2
percent and Health and Social Work 14.4 percent.

The Industry sector, the highest growing sector with a GDP share of 25.5
percent, had its growth rate increasing from -0.5 percent in 2016 to
16.7 percent in 2017.

The Mining and Quarrying subsector recorded the highest growth of 46.7 percent in 2017.

The Agriculture sector expanded from a growth rate of 3.0 percent in
2016 to 8.4 percent in 2017. Its share of GDP, however, declined from
18.7 percent in 2016 to 18.3 percent in 2017. Crops remain the largest
activity with a share of 14.2 percent of GDP.

The Non-Oil annual GDP growth rate decreased from 5.0 percent in 2016 to
4.9 percent in 2017. The 2017 Non-oil GDP for industry recorded a
growth rate of 0.4 percent, compared with 4.9 percent in 2016. Growth in
the fourth quarter of 2017 reached 8.1 percent compared to 9.7 percent
in the third quarter (GNA, 2018).

If you may remember, during the 2016 electioneering campaign, Nana
Akufo-Addo asserted: “This ‘new Ghana will be a Ghana with opportunities
for all, and where everybody is taken care off. We will have a society
that is caring and compassionate and expresses solidarity. Nobody is
going to be left behind. We are all going to march together, hands
linked together, to that great future that beckons us, here in Ghana.”

In fact, back then, I had no qualms about Nana Akufo-Addo’s claim of bringing everyone on board to build the nation.

To his credit though, Nana Akufo-Addo brought all the people who
contested him in the NPP’s flagbearership race together. Yes, he
resolved all pre-election issues and worked collaboratively towards the
2016 election victory.

And, following his election victory, President Akufo-Addo graciously
assembled a working team consisting of people from all walks of life,
including a 2016 presidential candidate from an opposition party.

This is indeed a leadership by example. In fact, Nana Akufo-Addo is ‘the Moses’ of our time.

Biblically, Moses was a visionary leader. We read in Exodus that he was a
shepherd – he had a modest, humble and patient upbringing. Moses
employed his humility, patience and tolerance when he had the
opportunity to speak to God. He kept watching as thousands of sheep
grazed the fields. Moses noticed that one sheep was missing and went off
to look for it, finding it at a distance apart.

When the sheep had finished drinking, Moses lifted it onto his
shoulders and carried it back to the flock. When Jehovah God saw this,
he became aware that Moses was a man of reason, empathy and selfless
devotion, a man truly worthy to lead His people; a man who would put his
empathetic qualities at the disposal of the needs of his subordinates.
After all, no one was keeping an eye on Moses; Moses could easily have
thought to himself, “why be concerned with one sheep when there are
thousands”?

Fellow Ghanaians, I think it is about time we distinguished between a
demagogue and a true leader. In this way, we would avert the apocalypse
of our dear nation sinking deeper and deeper into the mire.

But the crucial question is: how do we stop backing the ‘semi-circle’ of economic managers?

To be quite honest, some of us, as a matter of principle, could not end
our fury in condemnation when former President Mahama bizarrely doled
out large portions of our scarce resources to inveterate apologists like
the founder of Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Madam Akua Donkor, who in all
honesty, contributed nothing meaningful towards Ghana’s wellbeing.

Let us also remind ourselves that, but for Akuffo-Addo’s timely
intervention, Mahama would have given away not less than 58% of Ghana’s
Bauxite to his sibling, Ibrahim Mahama, just about a week before exiting
power.

Ghana, to be quite honest, does not need a Father Christmas who would
carelessly give away our hard earned resources to apologists. But Ghana
rather needs a serious, a committed and a forward-thinking leader who
can utilise our scarce resources judiciously to the benefit of all
Ghanaians.

A judicious distribution of national resources is the implementation of poverty alleviation policies such as the Free SHS.

And, considering the enormous benefits therein education, it is,
indeed, prudent and somewhat forward-thinking for any serious and
committed leader to seek to bridge the ever widening social inequalities
gap through rational distribution of national resources in the form of
free SHS and other social interventions.

To me, I’ll always choose a forward-thinking leader over a reckless
Father Christmas who cannot take good care of our scarce resources.

Yes, we, (Ghanaians), took the right decision on 7th December 2016 by
electing ‘the Moses’ of our time (Akufo-Addo) to rescue us from the
economic bondage of the ‘Pharaoh’ of our time (Mahama).

At 38, TV presenter and entrepreneur, Deloris
Frimpong-Manso, popularly known as Delay, isn’t doing badly for herself
at all. Her Delay Show is in its 11th year and her products Delay
Mackerel, Delay Tomato Paste and Delay Sardine are doing very well on
the market.

However, it seems for many people, her success will be incomplete if
she does not get married and she has to constantly deal with her fans
asking when she is getting married.

In person and on social media, people keep telling her to get married but when Showbiz caught up with her at the Alisa Hotel last Thursday, Delay said she did not know when she would get married. “I’m a spontaneous, free-spirited person. I take my life as it comes, so I don’t put myself in that box saying I am getting married tomorrow,” was her answer.

The Delay Show is undoubtedly one of the most watched TV shows in the
country and has stirred controversy while also giving the public more
insight into their personalities’ lives. So how has she managed to
sustain her show for a good 11 years?

“It’s the passion and the love I have for it. It’s not like a job for
me. I just love it, that is why even when I am sick, I still have the
urge to shoot. I used to have a passion for radio and I have transferred
it to TV,” she said.

Over the years, Delay has interviewed everyone who matters in the
entertainment industry as well as those from other sectors such as
religion and sports.

She told Showbiz her most difficult interview was with footballer,
John Paintsil. “He gave me yes and no answers throughout. He was so
guarded it wasn’t funny. It was a very difficult one for me,” she said.

For the show to survive this long, there must be something Delay is
doing right or is it her guests? “It’s a two-way street. The celebrities
contribute and I contribute and that is what has kept the show going,”
she stated.

Delay said although the celebrities also contributed to the success
of the show, she brought an X-factor to it. “There are lots of musicians
in Ghana but Daddy Lumba has stood the test of time and remained
relevant all these years.”

Asked why she puts out a lot of information about her guests but
everything about her is shrouded in secrecy, this is what Delay said, “I
am not a guest on the show. I am just a host.”

So what next after the Delay Show? “I have shot another series, the
Delay Show is the tree and the others are branches. I am watering the
tree and all others come later,” she said.

Delay had some advice for young people.“Nobody gives you power, power
to succeed in life or business. You have to take it yourself.

“We should not let our roots, colour, looks, background or gender
restrict us. We can be anything we want to be in life and I am a living
proof of that.”